Historical Western Springs
Western Springs’ Birthplace: Grand Avenue School
Residents always associate the historic Water Tower with the earliest days of the village. But, did you know that another building was the first home to our village government?
In 1885, the Grand Avenue School was built to replace a smaller schoolhouse that had been on the same site. Later that year, the residents of Western Springs voted to incorporate as a Village, which became effective in January 1886. Since there was no village hall as yet, the first meeting of the Board of Trustees took place in the school. This continued until 1892, when the town built the historic Water Tower, complete with two floors of office and meeting space. In 1906, the partial second floor of the school was expanded to a full floor, and the bell tower on the southwest corner was removed and a center belfry cupola was added on the new second floor roof. These additions matched the original structure, and the Palladium window motif …
C Throckmorton
8:09 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
I was at Laidlaw when they did the renovations in 1977 and remember very well all the students squeezing into our classrooms with us. Would love to see the original portico on Chestnut street re-created. more ›